Centrifugal blower wheel



June 21, 1966 H. w. KUKLINSKI 3,257,070

Y CENTRIFUGAL BLOWER WHEVEL Filed 001:. 10. 1963 INVENTOR. Q HENRY W. KUKLINSKI.

v I BY I X 1 M ATTORNEY.

United States Patent are Filed Oct. 10, 1963, Ser. No. 315,195 4 Claims. (Cl. 230-134) This inventionrelates to a blower wheel and, more particularly, to a centrifugal blower structure which permits ready removal and replacement of vanes or blades without requiring special tools or welding operations.

Centrifugal blower wheels including a hub having a plurality of blades projecting outwardly are well known in the art. Such wheels are frequently employed in refrigerated railway cars for movement of air in the refrigerated area, for example. It is highly important that blower wheels employedto circulate cool air in these refrigerated cars be of rugged construction to withstand the many shocks received during use, while at the same time being readily serviceable should repairs be necessary.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide an improved blower wheel which is readily serviceable and capable of withstanding high shock loads.

An object of the invention is to provide a blower wheel in which the component parts are readily replaceable requiring only the use of simple tool-s.- Other objects of the invention will be readily perceived from the following description.

This invention relates to a blower wheel comprising in combination a hub having an axially extending opening therethrough, a plurality of spaced longitudinal slots in its exterior face, and annular grooves adjacent the ends thereof; a plurality of blade elements extending from said hub having the base portions thereof disposed within the slots in said hub, retaining means to secure the blade elements in said slots, said retaining means being disposed within the annular grooves, and means to align and to secure the ends of said blade elements in a substantially fixed, spaced relation.

The attached drawing illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention in which: I

FIGURE 1 is a side view in elevation of the blower wheel of the present invention;

.FIGUR-E 2 is a sectional View of the blower wheel, taken along the lines IIII of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the hub collar employed in the blower wheel of FIGURES 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a centrifugal blower wheel 11 comprising a central hub 13 and a plurality of blades or vanes 14 secured to the hub and extending outwardly therefrom. The blades may extend forwardly, backwardly, or radially as desired. The outer ends of blades 14 are secured to ring members 16, as hereinafter described.

Hub 13 is provided with an axially extending opening 1'5 to receive a driving shaft 19. The hub 13 may be keyed to shaft 19 by a key 21 to assure that the wheel rotates with the shaft.

The hub opening 15 terminates at each end in an outwardly extending frusto-conical section 23. A plurality of threaded apertures 25 are formed in each end face 18 of hub 13 for a purpose hereinafter described.

A collar 29 is attached to the hub by, bolts 27 which engage the threads of apertures 25. Preferably, similar collars are attached at opposite ends of the hub 13*.

Collar 29, refer to FIGURE 3, has a plurality of plain apertures 31 through which the bolts27 extend, for the purpose of securing collar 29 to the hub 13 and also is provided with a plurality of threaded apertures 33. Bolts 27 for example, when it is desired to remove collar 29 3,257,070 Patented June 21, 1966 .29 from its inserted position in hub 13.

The collar 29 includes a frusto-conical portion 35 extending from one side thereof which is slit to provide a plurality of separate ribbed segments 37. A recess 39 may be provided around the frusto-conical portion 35 to relieve any stresses on this area.

Collar 29 is placed on the shaft 19 with frusto-conical portion 35 extending into the frusto-conical portion 23. Bolts 27 secure the collar 29 to the end of hub 13 and enable the respective frusto-conical portions 23, 35 of each member to mate. As bolts 27 are tightened, the ribbed segments 37 are wedged so that they bind upon the driving shaft 19 and securely attach the blower wheel 11 to the shaft 19.

Only one collar .19 need be attached in the manner described to enable the driving shaft 19 to. rotate the blower wheel 11; although as described, collars 29 may be employed at each end if desired. Any damage to the end of the hub to which the collar is attached which may occur may be readily repaired by removing the collar and turning the hub 13 180 for reassembly upon shaft 19 and secured in place as previously described.

A plurality of spaced longitudinal slots41 are provided in the exterior face of hub 13 extending axially thereof and annular grooves 43 are located adjacent each end face of the hub 13. T-shaped base sections 47 of blade elements 14 are placed within slots 41. Sufiicient clearance is provided within slots 41 to enable the base sections 47 to be placed readily therein. Retainers 49, which may be in the form of snap rings or spiral spring members, are placed in grooves 43, enclosing the ends of each blade base portion 47, to secure the blades 14 to the hub 13. As can be seen in FIGURE 1, collars 29 at the ends of hub 13 further restrictlongitudinal movement of the blades.

Each blade 14 is provided with a centrally apertured tab 51 depending laterally from the outer tip on each side of the blade. Each outer ring 16 is provided with a. plurality of circumferentially spaced apertures 20, refer to FIGURE 2. Apertures in tabs 51 are aligned with associated apertures 20 in the respective outerrings 16,

The present invention provides a simple, economical,- easily assembled fan wheel which may be readily and quickly repaired during operation. If blades become damaged, during operation, the damaged blades may be easily replaced with as satisfactory alignment as originally provided. The fan Wheel of the present invention requires only simple tools for manufacture, the components being such that they are self-aligning automatically during assembly.

While I. have described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood the invention is not limited thereto since it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a blower wheel, the combination of a cylindrical hub having an axially-extending opening, a plurality of longitudinally extending slots equidistantly spaced about the circumference of the hub, and an annular groove adjacent each end in the peripheral surface thereof, said hub opening terminating at each end in a frusto-conical surface section, a plurality of blade elements having the base sections thereof disposed within the slots in said hub, tabs depending from the outer ends of said blade sides of said wheel, means for fastening said tabs to said ring members, retaining means disposed in each annular groove of said hub to secure the base sections of said blade elements within the slots in said hub, a collar member having an opening adapted to fit over a driving shaft and a frusto-c-onical section extending from one side to fit within the axially extending hub opening, said section being formedof ribbed segments, and means to secure said collar member to the hub thereby wedging said segments into said hub opening between the wall of the opening and the driving shaft to secure said wheel to the driving shaft.

2. In a hub for a blower wheel having a plurality of blade elements, the combination of a cylindrical body having an axially extending opening terminating at least one end thereof in an outwardly extending frusto-conical surface section, said body having a plurality of spaced, longitudinal slots along the exterior surface thereof to receive base portions of the blade elements and an annular groove adjacent each end to receive retaining means in the peripheral surface of the body locking the blade elements to said body, collar means having a frusto-conical section extending from one side thereof adapted to fit within the frusto-conical section of the body and formed of ribbed segments, and means adapted to fasten said collar member to the body to wedge said ribbed segments into the opening in said body between the wall of the opening and a driving shaft to secure said body to the driving shaft.

3. In a blower wheel, the combination of a substantially cylindrical hub having an axially extending opening therethrough adapted to fit over adriving shaft, at least one end of the opening terminating in an outwardly extending frusto-conical section, said hub having a plurality of spaced longitudinal slots in its exterior surface to receive blades and annular grooves in the exterior peripheral surface adjacent the ends to receive blade retaining means, a plurality of blades extending outwardly from the hub having axially extending base portions disposed in said slots, ring members secured to opposite outer ends of the blades to align and to secure the ends of the blades in a substantially fixed spaced relation, retaining means placed in said grooves over base portions of the blades in the slots to secure the blades to the hub, at least one collar member adapted to fit over the driving shaft terminating in an outwardly extending frusto-conical section adapted to fit between the wall of the hub opening frusto-conical surface section and the driving shaft, said collar section being deformable, and fastening means to secure the collar member to the hub thereby deforming said section to wedge the section securely between the wall of the opening and the driving shaft thus securing the wheel in the driving shaft.

4. A blower wheel according to claim 3 in which the collar member is provided with threaded openings through which threaded members may be inserted to free said collar member from the hub when it is desired to remove the hub from the driving shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,155,231 4/1939 Hubbard et al. 230134 2,222,787 11/1940 Stadler 230l34 2,496,402 2/1950 McVeigh et' al. 103111 2,689,682 9/1954 Boyd et a1 230-134 2,768,847 10/1956 Peyrin et al. 103111 2,910,224- 10/1959 Campbell 230-434 3,021,049 2/1962 Settle 103111 SAMUEL LEVINE, Primary Examiner.

HENRY F. RADUAZO, DONLEY J. STOCKING,

Assistant Examiners. 

1. IN A BLOWER WHEEL, THE COMBINATION OF A CYLINDRICAL HUB HAVING AN AXIALLY EXTENDING OPENING A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDIANLLY EXTENDING SLOTS EQUIDISTANTLY SPACED ABOUT THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE HUB, AND AN ANNULAR GROOVE ADJACENT EACH END IN THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE THEREOF, SAID HUB OPENING TERMINATING AT EACH END IN A FRUSTO-CONICAL SURFACE SECTION, A PLURALITY OF BLADE ELEMENTS HAVING THE BASE SECTIONS THEREOF DISPOSED WITHIN THE SLOTS IN SAID HUB, TABS DEPENDING FROM THE OUTER ENS OF SAID BLADE ELEMENTS, A PAIR OF RING MEMBERS LOCATED ON OPPOSING SIDES OF SAID WHEEL, MEANS FOR FASTENING SAID TABS TO SAID RING MEMBERS, RETAINING MEANS DISPOSED IN EACH ANNULAR GROOVE OF SAID HUB TO SECURE THE BASE SECTIONS OF SAID BLADE ELEMENTS WITHIN THE SLOTS IN SAID HUB, A COLLAR MEMBER HAVING AN OPENING ADAPTED TO FIT OVER A DRIVING SHAFT AND A FRUSTO-CONICAL SECTION EXTENDING FROM ONE SIDE TO FIT WITHIN THE AXIALLY EXTENDING HUB OPENING, SAID SECTION BEING FORMED OF RIBBED SEGMENTS, AND MEANS TO SECURE SAID COLLAR MEMBER TO THE HUB THEREBY WEDGING SAID SEGMENTS INTO SAID HUB OPENING BETWEEN THE WALL OF THE OPENING AND THE DRIVING SHAFT TO SECURE SAID WHEEL TO THE DRIVING SHAFT. 